Green Day Headlining Voodoo Fest 2012

It’s been three long years since Green Day released a studio album, and the band has so much pent-up creative energy that it’s preparing to unleash a full-on trilogy of new LPs over the next year. The first installment, ‘¡Uno!,’ arrives in September — and the band will celebrate its release by heading down to New Orleans and headlining Voodoo Fest 2012.

The band last played the Voodoo Fest in 2004, receiving rapturous reviews for its set (and for good reason, as you can see in the video embedded below). As Nola.com puts it, “Green Day’s return is the Voodoo equivalent of Bruce Springsteen‘s return to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.” The band has played in New Orleans since, but there’s something special about Voodoo; over the festival’s decade-plus lifespan, it’s lured everyone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Deadmau5 to the Big Easy, earning a reputation for one of the most dizzyingly eclectic lineups of the festival season.

Perhaps more importantly for Green Day fans, this appearance is their only scheduled North American date of 2012, so if you absolutely have to see the band in person this year, you’d better start making plans for New Orleans. Tickets for Voodoo Fest 2012 are already on sale, with prices ranging from $125 for a regular three-day pass to $400 for the full VIP experience.

Voodoo Fest 2012 is scheduled for Oct. 26-28, which means the organizers have plenty of time to announce the other impressive headliners they’ve no doubt got up their sleeve. Take a look at a clip from Green Day’s 2004 performance below, and let us know if you’ll be in the audience when the band takes the stage in October.